Effects of migratory birds activities on the stoichiometry of soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a Carex-dominated wetland of Poyang Lake.

Studying the stoichiometric characteristics of soil nutrients aids in evaluating soil quality and deciphering the coupling of soil nutrients. The influence of migratory bird activities on the dynamics of wetland soil nutrients and their stoichiometric remains unclear. We classified the central, peripheral and adjacent natural grassy areas as severe, mild, and no bird activity (control), respectively, in Donghu Carex meadow, a representative migratory bird habitat in Poyang Lake, based on flock characteristics and initial surveys. We analyzed the contents and stoichio-metry of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) across soil depths of 0-100 cm under different intensities of migratory bird activities. The results showed that the activities of migratory birds significantly impacted nutrient levels exclusively within 0-30 cm soil. Mild activities markedly enhanced SOC and TN across 0-30 cm soil, while both mild and severe activities significantly raised TP within the same depth. For the 0-100 cm soil profiles, soil C/N ratios were 10.0, 10.8, and 9.9, C/P ratios were 23.5, 30.0, and 22.7, and N/P ratios were 2.3, 2.7, and 2.3 under no, mild, and severe bird activities, respectively. Further, mild activities of migratory birds significantly increased soil C/N, C/P and N/P ratios only within the 0-30 cm depth, while the stoichiometric ratios of all soil layer had no significant difference under severe bird activity. Soil stoichiometric ratios strongly correlated with physicochemical properties. SOC, TN, and TP primarily mediated the effects of migratory bird activity on soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus stoichiometric ratios in Poyang Lake wetland. In conclusion, the influence of migratory bird activity on the stoichiometric ratios of soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in Poyang Lake wetland exhibited depth threshold (approximately 30 cm), aligning with the "Intermediate Distur-bance Hypothesis". These findings could provide a new perspective for the protection of wetlands and migratory birds.

Fatty liver index correlates with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but not with newly diagnosed coronary artery atherosclerotic disease in Chinese patients.

BACKGROUND: Fatty liver index (FLI) was recently established to predict non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in general population, which is known to be associated with coronary artery atherosclerotic disease (CAD).This study aims to investigate whether FLI correlates with NAFLD and with newly diagnosed CAD in a special Chinese population who underwent coronary angiography. METHODS: Patients with CAD (n = 231) and without CAD (n = 482) as confirmed by coronary angiography were included. Among them, 574 patients underwent B-ultrosonography were divided into NAFLD group (n = 209) and non-NAFLD group (n = 365). Correlation between FLI and NAFLD was analyzed using pearson's correlation. The associations between FLI and NAFLD as well as CAD were assessed using logistic regression. The predictive accuracy of FLI for NAFLD was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: FLI was significantly higher in NAFLD group (37.10 ± 1.95) than in non-NAFLD group (17.70 ± 1.04), P < 0.01. FLI correlated with NAFLD (r = 0.372, P < 0.001). The algorithm for FLI had a ROC-AUC of 0.721 (95% CI: 0.678-0.764) in the prediction of NAFLD. Logistic regression analysis showed that FLI was associated with NAFLD (adjusted OR = 1.038, 95% CI: 1.029-1.047, P < 0.01). The proportion of patients with CAD did not differ among the groups of FLI ≤ 30 (32.3%), 30-60 (31.0%), and ≥60 (35.3%). No significant association was found between FLI and CAD (adjusted OR = 0.992, 95% CI: 0.981-1.003 in men and OR = 0.987, 95% CI: 0.963-1.012 in women, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FLI showed good correlation with NAFLD in patients who underwent coronary angiography, but not with newly diagnosed CAD. This might be underestimated because some patients in non-CAD group may have other underlying cardiovascular diseases.

Prevalence of colorectal neoplasm in Chinese patients with high-risk coronary artery disease classified by the Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening score.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of colorectal neoplasms in patients coronary artery disease (CAD) with or without a family history of colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, individuals with suspected CAD in the absence of cancer-related symptoms underwent coronary angiography for the first time, and were divided into CAD and non-CAD groups. Colonoscopy was performed in individuals at high-risk tier based on their Asia-Pacific colorectal screening (APCS) score. Their waist circumference (WC), height and body weight were measured. RESULTS: There were 634 of 1157 individuals at a high risk of developing advanced colorectal neoplasms, 91.0% (577/634) of whom were male smokers. The proportion of CAD patients in the high-risk tier was 81.5% (517/634), while the prevalences of adenomas (32.1% vs 22.2%, P < 0.05) and advanced adenomas (14.7% vs 8.5%, P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the CAD group than in the non-CAD group. After 83 individuals with a family history of CRC were excluded, only the prevalence of adenomas was still significantly higher in the CAD group than in the non-CAD group (25.5% vs 16.0%, P < 0.01). Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m(2) was correlated with the occurrence of adenomas (OR 2.133, 95% CI 1.219-3.730, P = 0.008) in CAD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Even in the absence of family history of CRC, CAD patients at a high risk of developing advanced colorectal neoplasms classified by the APCS score still showed a remarkably high prevalence of colorectal adenomas. Moreover, the association between the occurrence of adenomas and CAD was stronger in overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) individuals.

Gallbladder gallstone disease is associated with newly diagnosed coronary artery atherosclerotic disease: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The association between gallstone disease and coronary artery atherosclerotic disease (CAD) remains unclear. To clarify their relationship, patients with CAD newly diagnosed by coronary angiography were investigated in this cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 1,270 patients undergoing coronary angiography for the first time between January 2007 and September 2011. Patients with ≥50% diameter stenosis in any major coronary artery on coronary angiography were defined as being CAD positive (n = 766) and those with no stenosis as CAD negative (n = 504). Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between gallstone disease and CAD. The odds ratios (OR) of factors associated with CAD were calculated. In addition, CAD-positive and CAD-negative patients were matched one-to-one by age, gender and metabolic syndrome (MetS), and the association between gallbladder disease and CAD was determined. RESULTS: The prevalence of gallstone disease was significantly higher in CAD-positive than in CAD negative patients (149/766 [19.5%] vs 57/504 [11.3%], P<0.01). Gallstone disease was significantly associated with CAD (adjusted OR = 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-2.31). Following matched pairing of 320 patients per group, gallstone disease remained significantly associated with CAD (adjusted OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.08-2.65). CONCLUSION: Gallstone disease is strongly associated with CAD diagnosed by coronary angiography.